December 19, 2022

Riding back into Hanoi from Ninh Binh felt very different than when we left here a little less than three weeks ago. That day I was quite nervous about entering the traffic chaos and navigating my way out of the city. Today, having experienced a large variety of traffic, obstacles, etc and become more comfortable with the “rules of the road” (or lack thereof), it was much less intimidating to join the scooter crowds and work our way towards the center of Hanoi.

On the ride back into Hanoi, we passed this guy carrying an acetylene tank (with no valve cap) on the back of his scooter. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

We spent our last full day in Hanoi touring some of the monuments and relics from the Vietnam War. Despite the overwhelming feel in Hanoi that this is a capitalist society — lots of tourist shops and high-end stores selling name-brand sneakers, jewelry, and watches, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc — Vietnam is still a communist country, and it is interesting to see, feel, and generally experience this culture clash.

We passed these gentlemen playing Xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess or Elephant chess. I could’ve watched for an hour, but I didn’t want to disturb them. With my bad knees from too many years of racing (and injuries), I am always amazed (and a bit jealous, I must admit) at the Asian way that people — even at their age — just squat for long periods of time as a way of sitting. Note that the gentleman facing the camera has taken one shoe off; it looks like he may be using that to sit on.

Just a random side street in Hanoi. I like the way it looked due to all of the colors, the scooters, and the national flag.

We were walking towards Truc Bach Lake, when we ran across this on a wall. I wasn’t able to translate it, but it depicts soldiers with an anti-aircraft gun, and a US Air Force plane being shot down, with one of Hanoi’s famous bridges in the background. Also in the background is Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hotel. The date at the bottom is the day that John McCain was shot down over Hanoi.

On the shore of Truc Bach Lake is this monument, depicting John McCain parachuting into the lake after being shot down. The text translates roughly to: “On 26 October 1967 near Truc Bach Lake in the capital, Hanoi, the citizens and military caught Pilot John Sidney McCain. The US Navy Air Force Aviator was flying aircraft A4, which crashed near Yen Phu power station. This was one of ten aircraft shot down that same day.”

We weren’t aware until we ran across these posters that the day before marked the 50th anniversary of Operation Linebacker II, or the “Christmas Bombing” of Hanoi and North Vietnam. Frustrated by a breakdown of peace talks less than a week earlier, Nixon ordered the massive bombing attack that spanned twelve days. Over 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped over Hanoi and Haiphong, and the US lost 15 B52s in the attack.

There are small lakes all over Hanoi. This one contains the remains of the landing gear of a B52 that was shot down during Operation Linebacker II. The monument next to the lake says that “On December 27, 1972 the Battalion No. 72 Air Defence Missile Regiment No. 285 shot down on the spot a B52G of the US Imperialist violating Ha Noi air space.A part of the wreckage fell in Huu Tiep Lake. The outstanding feat of arm contributed to achieving the victory “Dien Bien Phu in the air”, defeating the US Imperialist’s strategic air raid with B52 bomber against Ha Noi at the end of December 1972 and creating an important change that led the Vietnamese People’s Anti-US Resistance for National Salvation to the complete victory.”
While we were there we watched a class of school children listen to a guide explaining the importance of what they were seeing, as well as several Vietnamese tourists posing for photos in front of the wreckage.

A short walk took us to the B52 Victory Museum. Despite the name, this place is actually a small museum depicting the first and second Indochina Wars, as well as the Vietnam American War. In front of the museum is the carcass of several B52s, in addition to anti-aircraft guns.

You have to remember (or you will be reminded) that the story here is told from the other side of the Vietnam war, and it isn’t pretty. Unlike our visit to Hiroshima several years ago, where the museum is dedicated to showing the horrors of a nuclear bomb and telling the story without really pointing blame, here the blame is on full display.

Outside there was a large group of women (mostly middle-age or older) in traditional Vietnamese formal dress, posing for photos in front of the museum. I don’t know who they were or the significance of their visit, though in hindsight I wish I did. I have to admit it felt a bit odd or awkward as an American to be asked by several women to use their phones to take photos of them in front of the museum.

At the Imperial Citadel there are a number of US aircraft on display.

The Maison Centrale, aka Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton.

Poster on the wall at the entrance to Hoa Lo Prison.

A sign on the wall at the entrance to Hoa Lo Prison. It’s a bit of a shock to read how the prison was a “Hell on Earth” when built by the French colonialists to imprison Vietnamese, but after imprisoning Americans it became “An attractive destination for friends who love peace.”

Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.

At the end of our history tour of Hanoi, we walked back to our hotel. Not wanting to risk crossing the street (I was over the fear of riding in Hanoi, but not the fear of walking in Hanoi), we decided to splurge on one last meal.

If I could’ve found a traffic light like in the video below, I would have crossed the street in search of more restaurants and coffee shops, but we had crossed in front of our hotel the night before, and by the time we got back we decided it wasn’t worth the risk of doing it again.

This video shows one cycle of a traffic light on a regular street at non-rush hour in Hanoi. Orderly, smooth, just a bunch of scooters. This is fairly rare, as there aren’t that many traffic lights, and when there are, many people just ignore them. Imagine stepping off the curb right here and walking across the street, without the benefit of a traffic light to slow or stop traffic.

A few doors down from our hotel was Sajang BBQ, a Korean-style BBQ restaurant. We opted for the “Diamond Buffet” from the menu, which included all-you-can-eat beef, vegetables, noodles, rice, soup, salad, sushi, sashimi, chicken wings, and dessert, and included two beers. All for about $50 for both of us.

This may be the last time for a long time that we get to eat this well.

I have to admit that the prices in Vietnam for food and lodging were every bit as inexpensive as I had always heard, and the food is very good, though I did get tired of fried rice and noodles after a while. But there are options available. Gasoline was about the same price as in the US (which of course is still way less than Europe). Would I come back? As soon as somebody invents a way to get me here without sitting on a plane for 20 hours, I will strongly consider it.

On to the next adventure…